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| The ERA Story
The history of ERA and the story behind the development of the ERA Mini Turbo. |
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 A New ERA |
| Boosting the Mini |
| ERA in Miniature |
| From Another ERA |
| Little Devil |
| Minipulation |
| No Surrender |
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Taken from Fast Lane - October 1990
The passage of time hasn’t dimmed the British public’s affection for the Mini. Simon Arron reports on how archaism can occasionally be perceived as a virtue.
A Test Match - between Mini Miglia; BAC M-30; ERA Mini Turbo and Avonbar Mini 30.
They say that the Mini
isn't long for this world. But while Rover steps up its collaboration with Honda
in other market sectors, the late Sir Alec Issigonis's revolutionary little
box remains as a last bastion of what used to be the BMC. How long will it continue
to defy the axe? Who knows? There is a story going around that the Japanese
are just waiting for Rover to press the 'stop' button, so that they can buy
all the tooling gear and set tip production in the Far East .. .
Now there's an irony to pander. While Japanese manufacturers rush to establish
car plants in Britain, somebody wants to build Minis in Japan.
In the next century, will automotive enthusiasts recall the once mighty British
motor industry with conversations about the Austin Allegro, the Singer Gazelle
or the Triumph Herald? Probably not. They will, however, remember the Mini.
Its 30th anniversary won't have escaped your attention. A birthday party was
thrown in the car's honour at Silverstone, which led to a couple of days of
total Mini saturation on the roads of Northamptonshire, and there emerged a
predictable proliferation of commemorative vehicles.
The four here range in character from Avonbar's straightforward engine conversion
to the BAC M-3O (limited to 30 examples at a cost of £30,000, although
the price has been trimmed since the car was first announced to a somewhat
disbelieving
press). They all retain traditional Mint non-virtues (transmission whine and
spine rattling ride, to name but two), but during the time we had them, they
attracted a level of public interest normally unseen this side ofa Lamborghini
Countach.
MINI MIGLIA
IN MOTORSPORTING parlance, the Mini Miglia is a tuned, one-litre circuit racer.
This, however, is a re-creation of a '60s Mini Cooper. Marketed by Rover dealer
Paul Huxford in Fareham, Hampshire, it was originally going to feature the Cooper
handle in its title, but uncertainty over who owned the rights to the name scotched
that idea.
Thus Huxford has produced the Miglia and the considerably more powerful Mini
Formula R, a 1,293cc, 100bhp flyer of which - sadly - no demonstrator was available,
The 998cc Miglia has a rather diffident 60bhp on tap, the engine tweaked in
time-honoured fashion by twin 1.25in SU carbs, large overlap camshaft, large
bore exhaust and gas-flowed cylinder head.
The emphasis is firmly on tradition, hence the 10in Minilite-clone wheels,
immaculate red paintwork and white roof. "We wanted to create the character of the
original car," explains Huxford's Mervyn Harris of the absent door mirrors,
although modern legislation has inevitably led to some compromises, such as
inertia reel belts and rear seat harness straps.
Former Cooper owners who saw the Miglia immediately went into raptures. "Just
like they used to be," was a typical misty-eyed response.
The interior is traditional, for which read spartan. If it isn't bad enough
having to make do without exterior mirrors (and all you can usually see in
the
other is the grille of the Transit van trying to assist you through city traffic),
the ventilation system is next to useless, there's no radio (not that you'd
be able to hear it at an indicated 70), a prehistoric driving position and
a
four-speed ‘box that wouldn't look out of place on Antiques Roadshow'.
As for the seats, you'd find more support on the terraces at Brechin City ..
.
Most of this, though, applies to current Minis. What we have here is character
in abundance. Forget all about maximum speeds and 0-60mph times (in the 13sec
bracket, if you must know). We aren't talking about thrills on an Indiana Jones
scale, but rather a deliberate attempt to roll back the years and open the nostalgia
ducts.
It may not have the legs of modern hatchbacks, but its amazing agility allows
it to be driven flat out virtually everywhere, at which pace the cabin volume
matches Black Sabbath in their heyday. The kart-like ride is more than compensated
by the kart-like handling, and consequently driving pleasure, or perhaps 'grin
factor' is a better term. There is a price for turning back the clock. The
test
Miglia was beautifully put together, as you would expect of something that
is hand-built to order, and prices start at £9,985 (or just under £17,000
for the Formula R), although a lower diff (final drive is optional at clients'
discretion) and the famous wheels nudged the price of the test car up to £10,500.
Logic will tell you that you can buy a number of contemporary, sporting, front-drive
tiddlers for that sort of money, but would you get such a Herculean grin factor?
In most cases, probably not.
BAC M-30
INITIALLY,THIS seemed to he too cynical a marketing exercise. OK, so the Mini's
30, and building that number of lavishly-equipped micro-limousines might
be
a neat way to celebrate the fact, but the £30,000 price tag was just
a touch too corny.
The standard item, on which the M-30 is based, is just under £5,000, so
how could you sextuple the value through leather, polished tree segments and
every conceivable extra short of a billiard table? It seems a lot of people
asked the same question, and the British Automobile Company, for whom KAT Designs
carried out the styling, has lowered the conversion price to £18,395 (hence
£23,390 for the finished article), and some of the test vehicle's standard
fitments have been relegated to the options list.
Of the four cars under the journalistic microscope, this one drew the largest
gallery wherever it went. The solid silver, hallmarked badge on the boot is
likely to draw less welcome attention in certain areas.
Beneath KAT"s aggressively uprated bodyshell, the heart of the conversion
is a Sprintex supercharger, mated to a 1.3 litre Metro engine. This yields
115bhp,
and makes the car distinctly nippy, as its achievements at Millbrook testify
(see performance table). Elsewhere in the cramped engine bay you'll find a
stainless
steel tubular manifold, oil cooler and single, 1.7in carb, while a beefier
clutch has also been incorporated to cope with the increased power. Although
all the
peripheral extras make it considerably heavier than a standard Mini, it is
still quick enough cross country, if a little too noisy for sustained, high-speed
motorway cruising.
The M-30 squats on adjustable dampers, and also features variable ride height.
When we first drove it, the rear dampers were set fully stiff, which made it
vastly oversensitive; even minor undulations causing it to leap alarmingly in
search of fresh tarmac. A more recent drive, on less extreme settings, has seen
that tendency curbed admirably.
In addition to the engine and body mods and theft-prone badges, the standard
BAC kit includes 6X13 alloy wheels (wrapped in low-profile Yokohama A008 175/50s),
tinted glass, hide trim, elm burr inserts, Wilton carpets and mats, front and
rear fog lamps, Recaro front seats (which diminish rear legroom considerably),
BAC instrument binnacle with numerous gauges, a bevy of warning lights, RDS
stereo system with four two-way speakers (each about the size of a Fiat 126,
only more powerful) and an in-car telephone.
The options, all but a couple of which featured on the demonstrator, include
a fabulous pearlescent paint job of which Porsche would he proud, electric windows,
central locking, remote control alarm, heated and electrically adjustable front
seats, compact disc autochanger (under the rear seats) and controller, six-speaker
hi-fi system, air conditioning and electric sunroof. BAC will tailor the car
to suit individual tastes, as appropriate. That applies to engine spec, as well
as trim.
In the midst of all this opulence, you still have a standard Mini gearknob and
heater (or rather boiler, as cold air is only obtainable through an open window),
a manual choke and a cheap looking metal handbrake poking out from a leather-clad
housing. A more serious oversight is that the bodykit on the test car blanked
off the jacking point, so when we picked up a punctured nearside front, a canister
of Tyreweld was the only way around the problem.
It's certainly fast enough, thanks in part to the instant mid-range response
of the Sprintex to throttle pressure, and like all Minis it's good fun. Chuck
it into a bend at speed, back off a fraction and then re-acquaint your foot
with the throttle to balance the slide. However, you've always been able to
do that with any Mini.
No reasonable being could justify spending quite so much on a Mini, no matter
what it might have, but finding just 30 exclusivity fiends shouldn't be too
much of a problem.
ERA MINI TURBO
TASTE, AS we know, is subjective. While the BAC M-30's bodykit is purposeful
and curvaceous, the Mini Turbo's - penned by Marcos man Dennis Adams - is angular
and gauche. It's up to the individual whether he prefers one, the other, or
perhaps finds both visually offensive.
Whatever you think of its looks, the ERA is a masterpiece of engineering. Neatly
finished inside, as in the engine compartment, it achieves all manner of unlikely
feats, not least of which is its ability as a civilised cruiser.
At the front end you have the Metro turbo engine, cunningly wedged into the
standard Mini City's confines. The ERA's bonnet scoop is there for a purpose,
rather than to complement the rest of the body package, in that it provides
valuable extra cooling. The unit's 94bhp yielded a 101.7mph top speed, which
may lag a little behind the M-30, but that's still pretty impressive for a Mini,
as is the claimed 7.8sec time for 0-60 acceleration, although the admittedly
weary test hack wheezed a bit to break 10sec.
It's not so much what it can do that invigorates, however, as the way that it
does it. There's no need to repeat all the cliches about the lightning-fast
steering, that much should be taken for granted. Rather it's the intelligent
use of sound-deadening materials which makes progress so peaceful. The ERA doesn't
shake, rattle or roll as soon as the revs break into four figures. The engine
note is muted by the turbo, naturally enough, but even when whistling up to
peak power at 6,100rpm the cabin remains serene.
There is pronounced lag from the boosted A Series, and it's best to keep the
tacho above 3,500rpm if you want to make significant progress. For all that,
it possesses ample mid-range urge, and if you are prepared to stir the gearbox
you will find the car suitably rewarding.
The whole interior has been refitted with partial use of Connolly hide, and
the execution is quite tasteful. Unfortunately, the centre console steals a
little bit of legroom for the driver, which is rather a shame within confines
that are already cramped by nature.
Amongst nice touches, unseen on rival test cars, are the internal bonnet release
and rear screen wiper, while a high-quality standard stereo system and glass
sunroof help to make this the member of the quartet with which it would he easiest
to live, day in, day out. Even the jack has been modified, so that it circumnavigates
the skirts in safety.
Pricewise, its rivals include the Golf GTi, admittedly in eight-valve trim,
but even that should ring a few alarm bells. Setting the cost aside, and in
this company it isn't bad value, the ERA succeeds in its stated aim of combining
the fun factor of the minimalist Cooper S with a few modern concessions.
AVONBAR MINI
THIRTY
OF ALL the subjects here, the Avonbar is the simplest to explain. Excepting
the discreet company badge on the bootlid, it looks like any other Mini Thirty,
an entirely predictable Rover limited edition.
Few of its ilk will go quite like this one. On delivery, it was immediately
noted that registration details on the key-ring were suffixed "bloody quick",
and with good reason.
The bored out, 1.4-litre MG Metro engine (the Turbo unit without the turbo .
. .) generates 104bhp, which is enough to haul the car to over l00mph, not to
mention its sprinting ability, 0-60 coming up in 8.8sec. You don't always have
to treat it thus, although Avonbar proprietor Ian Hargreaves won't discourage
right foot activity well in excess of 7,000rpm .. .
The beauty of this conversion is that it isn't designed simply to put retention
of your driving licence at risk. With an abundance of torque, for which no precise
figure is available, although its estimated peak is at 3,200rpm, the ZX engine
(Avonbar's official label for the conversion) is also mightily flexible. It's
as happy dawdling through town in third or fourth as it is zinging up the rev
range from rest.
Like most Minis, it's loud, though it is just about possible to discuss the
latest rise in the mortgage rate with fellow travellers as the speedometer needle
in the old 1275 GT instrument binnacle (really!) completes a lap of the dial,
coming to rest against the `P' in `MPH'. If the gauge was calibrated that far
round, it would read some way in excess of 100 at that point . .
Having parted with £5,750 for the base car, the simplest conversion will
set you back £1,994, so genuine zest is available at a realistic price.
To effect such performance enhancement, the cylinder block is offset and bored
to 73.5mm. The flywheel is lightened and customers may choose from a range of
cams, ditto pistons. Standard ZX specification prescribes a mild, progressive
cam which Hargreaves recommends for its smooth tickover properties, though a
sportier item can obviously be supplied, if desired. The standard SU carb is
retained, though the larger SU HIF44 is an option (at £l10), as are twin
SUs (£317).
The Avonbar may lack the refinement of the ERA, but in other respects this relatively
low-budget conversion is all pros and few cons, the latter restricted to the
drawbacks endemic to the breed (such as noise, appalling ride .. . we've been
through it all hetore). At the end of the day, it comes down to grin factor,
and there the Avonbar is in a class of its own.
VERDICT
IF YOU are in the market for something that needs to be pressed into service
every day, you can wipe two of the four Minis off your list straight away. The
first is the BAC M-30. Let's face it, you could have a BMW 535i for the same
price, or a Rover Vitesse and some change. And in which would you rather cover
30,000 miles per annum?
If, on the other hand, you already have your 535i or Vitesse, and you've got
a seriously thick wad of notes burning a hole in the pocket of your Armani suit,
then maybe the M-30 will fit the bill, if you are prone to enjoying a spot of
overkill on a summer's day.
We must also say goodbye to the Miglia. Entertaining as it is, its ancient breeding
counts against it. As a second car, it might make sense. Buy one by all means,
but make sure you've already got something quieter and more comfortable to fall
back on.
So it comes down to ERA or Avonbar, and truthfully it's hard to split them.
The normally aspirated car has the edge in terms of price, immediacy of response
and flexibility (note its third gear ability to dash from 50-70mph in 6.3sec),
while the ERA hammered the opposition - M-30 included - in terms of cabin ergonomics
and aural comfort.
When all's said and done, it's the Avonbar which will put the biggest smile
on your face, and if you really are in the market for a Mini in this day and
age, then that has to secure the winning vote.
| Mini Miglia | BAC M-30 | ERA Mini Turbo | Avonbar Mini 30 | |
| Price (as tested) | £10,500 | £30,000 | £11,949 | £8000 |
Performance
| Maximum Speed (mph) | |
| MINI-MIGLIA | 89.3 |
| BAC M-30 | 111.6 |
| ERA MINI TURBO | 101.7 |
| AVONBAR MINI 30 | 100.6 |
Acceleration Through All Gears (Seconds)
0-30 |
0-40 |
0-50 |
0-60 |
0-70 |
0-80 |
0-90 |
0-100 |
|
| MINI-MIGLIA | 4.1 |
6.5 |
10.2 |
13.4 |
18.4 |
26.2 |
- |
- |
| BAC M-30 | 3.0 |
4.6 |
6.4 |
8.7 |
11.6 |
15.2 |
21.5 |
33.7 |
| ERA MINI TURBO | 3.5 |
5.4 |
7.3 |
9.9 |
14.3 |
19.4 |
26.0 |
40.1 |
| AVONBAR MINI 30 | 3.1 |
4.7 |
6.5 |
8.8 |
12.4 |
16.9 |
25.2 |
38.3 |
Acceleration in Third Gear (Seconds)
30-50mph |
40-60mph |
50-70mph |
60-80mph |
70-90mph |
|
| MINI-MIGLIA | 9.3 |
9.1 |
10.4 |
- |
- |
| BAC M-30 | 5.4 |
5.3 |
5.7 |
8.3 |
- |
| ERA MINI TURBO | 6.1 |
6.8 |
7.6 |
8.3 |
- |
| AVONBAR MINI 30 | 6.5 |
5.8 |
6.3 |
7.6 |
11.4 |
Acceleration in Fourth Gear (Seconds)
30-50mph |
40-60mph |
50-70mph |
60-80mph |
70-90mph |
|
| MINI-MIGLIA | 17.3 |
16.8 |
17.4 |
17.2 |
- |
| BAC M-30 | 9.4 |
9.3 |
9.1 |
9.9 |
12.2 |
| ERA MINI TURBO | 9.8 |
10.0 |
12.7 |
13.4 |
16.4 |
| AVONBAR MINI 30 | 11.2 |
11.0 |
10.6 |
12.1 |
17.3 |
Overall Fuel Consumption (Imperial gallons)
| MODEL | MINI-MIGLIA | BAC M-30 | ERA MINI TURBO | AVONBAR MINI 30 |
| MPG | 30.9 | 19.5 | 28.7 | 33.1 |
| MAKER | Paul Huxford. Newgate Lane, Fareham Hants. PO14 1AL . |
BAC Manor Buildings North Perrot, Somerset. TA18 7ST |
ERA |
Avonbar. 219, New Haw Road, Addlestone, Surrey. KT15 2DP |